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"Right-handed starter Garrett Richards threw a bullpen session Green described as “really good” over the weekend in Philadelphia and could make another rehab start as soon as next week after one more side session. Richards, who is working back from Tommy John, was shut down earlier this month with shoulder discomfort."

What I really love about the J2 guys is that it tends not to be the top-10 ranked prospects who blow up. I believe this is where guys like Preller, who have an eye for projecting teenagers, have a material advantage. You gotta figure coming away from the period with several prospects you like is just as important as signing the top guys. Any of them could blow up and become the next Tatis.

Madness is the exception in individuals, but the rule in groups.

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It's actually a very high risk strategy. In all his years in Texas, AJ hit on very few players. And even here, just eyeballing it, we're looking at 5-10 out of 90 and only Patiño has obvious star potential.

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High risk when you spend $60 million, definitely. Not sure I'd recommend doing that again (and the rules have changed anyway.) You could make an argument that a return of one superstar player justifies the risk.

Not so high-risk in a normal year.

Rumor is MLB will be going to an International Draft soon. Not sure how much truth there is to that.

Madness is the exception in individuals, but the rule in groups.

Comment

It's actually a very high risk strategy. In all his years in Texas, AJ hit on very few players. And even here, just eyeballing it, we're looking at 5-10 out of 90 and only Patiño has obvious star potential.

The Padres signed 54 players in 2016. I listed the best a couple of weeks ago on a thread that's now kind of buried. Patino's and Morejon's FV alone more than make the $80 million worth the investment.

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High risk when you spend $60 million, definitely. Not sure I'd recommend doing that again (and the rules have changed anyway.) You could make an argument that a return of one superstar player justifies the risk.

Not so high-risk in a normal year.

Rumor is MLB will be going to an International Draft soon. Not sure how much truth there is to that.

They attempted to do just that as far back as 2006. There are so many things wrong with the International market now. I don't really know how to fix it. A draft simply seems like an ownership control/money grab.

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They attempted to do just that as far back as 2006. There are so many things wrong with the International market now. I don't really know how to fix it. A draft simply seems like an ownership control/money grab.

I don't quite follow you on that. Is the domestic MLB draft a "money grab"? How does the international market differ from the native market. Yeah, they draft players from American high schools and colleges in American, while the international players come in from a more diverse sourcing, i.e. baseball academies, professional baseball in Japan and Korea, or bracero/agent types. I don't understand why there isn't a draft. The goal of a draft may be to maintain a competitive MLB balance, but teams make a considerable investment in developing these players, too, and deserve (need) to recoup that investment before they have to pay $300M or $325M for a ball player. Teams arguably need to invest even more to develop international talent, due to language and cultural barriers. I even think the bonus system for the US draft is nuts. Teams need to pay a bonus of $5-10M just to SIGN a prospect with no professional service time?

Anyhow, I don't see how they can avoid an international draft, though the rules may be quite different than the US system. I'm not keen on signing 15 or 16 year olds. If 15 is ok, what about age 14, or 13? I think they should leave the kids in their home countries until they at least turn 18. (The Padres are kind of doing this with their D.R. academy.)

Maybe the "money grab" concerns can be offset with MLB investing more into youth baseball in some of these countries. (Heck, they should be pouring money into youth baseball everywhere. People who don't grow up playing baseball, with parents and siblings watching, don't usually watch baseball when they are adults. It's the kind of complex sport that one really needs to play to understand, and to grow to love. An investment in youth baseball is a major, long term, investment in future baseball fans for the MLB.)

Yeah, they draft players from American high schools and colleges in American, while the international players come in from a more diverse sourcing, i.e. baseball academies, professional baseball in Japan and Korea, or bracero/agent types. I don't understand why there isn't a draft. The goal of a draft may be to maintain a competitive MLB balance, but teams make a considerable investment in developing these players, too, and deserve (need) to recoup that investment before they have to pay $300M or $325M for a ball player. Teams arguably need to invest even more to develop international talent, due to language and cultural barriers. I even think the bonus system for the US draft is nuts. Teams need to pay a bonus of $5-10M just to SIGN a prospect with no professional service time?

Anyhow, I don't see how they can avoid an international draft, though the rules may be quite different than the US system. I'm not keen on signing 15 or 16 year olds. If 15 is ok, what about age 14, or 13? I think they should leave the kids in their home countries until they at least turn 18. (The Padres are kind of doing this with their D.R. academy.)

Maybe the "money grab" concerns can be offset with MLB investing more into youth baseball in some of these countries. (Heck, they should be pouring money into youth baseball everywhere. People who don't grow up playing baseball, with parents and siblings watching, don't usually watch baseball when they are adults. It's the kind of complex sport that one really needs to play to understand, and to grow to love. An investment in youth baseball is a major, long term, investment in future baseball fans for the MLB.)

There are "academies" throughout Latin America. They are run by buscones, (loosely translated "serachers" ... Ray, help me. This is my rough translation) who latch on to these kids as young as 10 years old. They remove the child from public schools and actually separate them from their families. Essentially the buscones become the adopted caretakers. Some are reputable. Many are unscrupulous. They are a major part of the problem. The exploitation of these children is tantamount to criminal child trafficking. One might also say MLB is complicit. Cuba is known for its vast baseball talent. But for every Cuban kid who strikes gold there are five others left and discarded when they can't cut it.

The other part of the equation in implementing an international draft are the various governments, politicians and lawyers, who certainly would have say in any stipulations/rules. Will the Dominican Republic governance have a different view than Venezuela ... or Panama? Probably. There isn't an easy answer.

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The Padres signed 54 players in 2016. I listed the best a couple of weeks ago on a thread that's now kind of buried. Patino's and Morejon's FV alone more than make the $80 million worth the investment.

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FV is only important when they're prospects and the point is not to invest in good prospects, it's to invest in good players. Hopefully, Patiño and Morejon (and other guys like Tirso) will become good players but historically speaking, it's high-risk.